How I Blacken Chicken on the Grill (or fish, scallops, etc)

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I recently had this dish at Lakeside Tavern in Knoxville and liked it so much that I decided to recreate it at home. It is blackened chicken breast, and andouille sausage smothered in their signature creole sauce with red and green bell peppers, served on a bed of jasmine rice. 

Here’s how mine turned out...

My version features double-smoked sausage, blackened chicken thighs, pepper melange, Voodoo cream sauce, and dirty rice.

Before I get into that recipe, let’s talk about blackened food. I think most people’s experience with blackened food is seeing BURNT food and joking that it’s “blackened.” That couldn’t be further from the truth.

What is Blackened Food?

Blackening is a technique pioneered by Chef Paul Prudhomme. It involves cooking food over high heat with butter and a flavorful seasoning to create a dark-as-night crust that is NOT BURNT. The food should be tangy and spicy, not acrid and ashy.

The black part of blackened foods comes from the seasoning and milk fats in the butter cooked over high temperatures.

 

How to Blacken Fish, Chicken, and Other Foods

In my experience, there are 3 main elements for blackening food. Paul Prudhomme’s technique involves dredging food in butter and through his blackening seasoning, then cooking it over high heat.

• Butter – Butter is the key because half of the “blackening” comes from the milk fats in the butter cooking over high heat. You will not get that from cooking oil, pork fat, tallow, or even clarified butter. You dredge the food through melted (NOT CLARIFIED) butter and season it heavily. I also use butter in the skillet as well.
• Seasoning – The seasoning should be herbal, garlicky, and have the Cajun pepper power trio of black, red, and white ground pepper. Paul Prudhomme’s recipe is online, or you can use your favorite recipe. My go-to is Meat Church Holy Voodoo, which is not billed as a blackening seasoning but works as one.
• Hot Cast Iron – The technique's creator used cast iron skillets for a reason – you need complete contact between food, butter, and hot metal. So, I like to use a skillet or griddle on the grill. Grilling chicken seasoned with blackening seasoning is not blackened chicken in the same way that chicken baked in an oven and slathered with BBQ sauce is not BBQ chicken.

Let's take a look at these elements in practice...

Lakeside Tavern Style Cajun Chicken and Sausage

By www.nibblemethis.com

Published 08/05/2022

Blackened chicken, spicy smoked sausage, grilled peppers and onions, Voodoo cream sauce, and dirty rice.

My Low Effort Brisket Cook

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This isn't a tutorial, just notes from my latest brisket cook which was a lazy but tasty effort.

Several weeks ago, Kroger had USDA Choice whole beef briskets on sale for $1.99 a pound. I'll always jump on brisket at that price. If I do nothing but grind it into ground beef, I'm still getting about half off. I picked out a nicely shaped one and I was thrilled when I flipped it over and saw the Certified Angus Beef® Brand logo.

CAB brisket for $1.99?  That's like reserving an economy rental car and getting to the rental place and they give you a convertible sports car or SUV upgrade.

I wasn't in a hurry to cook it so I wet-aged it at 33-36°f for 30 days. It's not as good as dry aging but it is much easier and that was the theme of this brisket.....minimal effort. 

Brisket Prep

Again, I took the easy road at every turn on this cook. I have been extremely busy at work this summer and barely have time to come up for air. 

• Trimming - I normally like to split my brisket into the point and flat, competition style. I do this because it shortens the cook, lets a big brisket fit in a Large Big Green Egg, and provides maximum surface area for bark development. Not this time, though. I trimmed the silverskin off of the flat and a little bit of fat here and there but not much, not even enough for the tallow pile.
• Injection - None. 
• Seasoning - I did a base layer of Obie-Cue's Double Strength Garlic Pepper and then a moderate coat of Obie-Cue's Big Bull's Texas Brisket seasoning. 
  
• Dry Brine - After seasoning, I wrapped it loosely in a large food bag and put it in the fridge overnight to let the magic of dry brining take place.

How to Set Up a Two-Zone Fire in a Kamado Grill

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“I think this is the best chicken I've ever had,” my youngest son's girlfriend said as we finished eating this Bacon Caprese Chicken. 

Bacon Caprese Chicken with Rice Pilaf

It is grilled chicken adorned with a thick, garlicky balsamic glaze and topped with double-smoked bacon, mozzarella, and an herbed slice of tomato.

This is just a variation of Eating Well's Tomato and Mozzarella Smothered Grilled Chicken (June 2021), so I won't post the recipe, just what we did differently....like adding double-smoked sweet bacon. Since I was grilling mine, I chose a two-zone fire to avoid burning the balsamic glaze.

Two-Zone Fires

So what is a Two-Zone Fire and when do you use it?

Renown grilling expert Steven Raichlen writes in The Barbecue Bible, “In a two-zone fire, you spread the coals out in a single layer over about two-thirds of the bottom grill grate, leaving one third of the grate coal free. The zone with the coals is your cooking area – use it for grilling simple foods for a small number of people. The coal-free zone is your cool or safety zone. To control the exposure to the heat, move the food closer to or farther away from the lit coals.” (Raichlen 18)

It is important to note that a two-zone fire involves a heat gradient; it's not an on/off type of direct and indirect heat. 

Oklahoma Joe's Rider DLX aka "The Survivor"

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My smoker has come home from college!  

I don't nickname many of my grills but after 2 years of service at a house with 9 college students, I've nicknamed this one "The Survivor".

When our youngest son moved out of the fraternity house and into a house in "The Fort" 2 years ago, I let him have his pick of all my grills and smokers to take with him. He didn't hesitate to pick my Oklahoma Joe's Rider DLX because he loved the convenience and the ability to switch between smoking and grilling. 

I felt bad about sending this smoker/grill to be the only grill for a house of 9 young men attending the Univerity of Tennessee. I mean....I remember the stupid stuff I did in college and could only imagine what that poor grill was enduring. Words like abuse, neglect, and mistreatment came to mind.

Look at that poor smoker. Yes, it is literally chained up outside!
[Cue Sarah McLachlan's Angel]

Damage Assessment

But now that our youngest has graduated and the Oklahoma Joe's Rider DLX returned home a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised. 

• Sure it had been used heavily and the interior had a lot of build-up. 
• The bottom tray had fallen off and we only had one of the nuts/bolts left.
• The bolt that secures the upper lid was missing.

Grilled Garlic and Herb Chicken with Red Pepper Pesto Pasta On the Char-Broil Cruise

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Alexis and I whipped up this dish for a no-fuss weeknight meal using only things we had in the fridge. To be fair, our refrigerator is pretty well stocked. We used store-bought pasta, prepackaged pesto, and a gas grill to make everything the lowest-effort possible. But low-effort can be delicious as the evidence shows.....

The pre-made pesto already has a warm spice level and the black pepper gives the pasta sauce a surprising kick of heat. Nothing strident, but it is a building heat and lets you know it's there.

For the Grilled Garlic and Herb Chicken

Fourth of July Briskets Cook

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We smoked a trio of briskets for the holiday weekend, overnight Friday through Saturday afternoon. Here are notes and thoughts about the cook. (If you're looking for a how-to post, check out Competition Style Brisket on a Kamado or Smoked Green Chile Brisket.)

We had three briskets and were cooking each one slightly differently.

• Our brisket - BBQ brisket, all for slicing.
• Brett's brisket - green chile brisket, all for slicing
• Kim's brisket - BBQ brisket, sliced flat, point for burnt ends

The Prep

Afghan-Style Game Hens with Harissa Yogurt Sauce on the Big Green Egg

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I have 70+ grilling-related cookbooks on my shelves, but there are only about a dozen that I go back to time after time. Steven Raichlen's classic Barbecue! Bible is one of those. It has over 500 tried and true recipes with influences from around the world. I recently made the book's recipe for Afghan-Style Game Hens, which was phenomenal.

Afghan-Style Game Hens with Harissa Yogurt Sauce

The recipe has you marinate split game hens in a blend of yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, herbs, and spices, and then grill to perfection. The marinade results in vivid orange color, tangy flavor, and juicy meat. He suggests using a rotisserie or two-zone fire. I was using a Big Green Egg and decided to use the raised direct method to get a crispy crust.

Raised-Direct Grilling

Benefits of Raised-Direct Grilling